Welcome to all of our international readers who will now be able to follow Hans Joachim Höh during his draft as part of the German National Championship 2012! Let’s not waste any time and get started right away.

Hans saw Wisdom, Bazul, The Fall of Neferset City, Sergeant Corsetti, Zog and Shadowseer Thraner in the first pack. He thought about picking the quest, but opted to go with Dun’zarg instead.

The next pack brought Pythisss, Gnomeliberation, Neferset Bladelord, Force of EarthKaelzin and Call of Lightning. He put the Shaman ability on top of his pile and checked the other contents of the pack for another brief second again, but eventually went with the versatile ability.

Pack 3 consisted of Thrall’s Doubt, Traitors!, Wrex, Neferset Flamecaller, Jarius, Wisdom, a Hammer and Rune of Zeth. He went for the Sentinel 2 drop and passed the pack.

Hans now saw Elemntalist Arax, Barim’s Dagger, Ashton Barstow, Cobra Sting, Rune of Zeth, Power and a few other Alliance drops. It was obvious which faction was open. Barim’s Dagger won that race, so Hans continued to go for Monster Shaman.

He then saw another Shifting of the searing Flames, Thrall’s Doubt, Rune of Zeth and that one seemed obvious, another equipment.

Another Rune of Zeth among some class abilities, so Hans went for the next equipment.

Thieving Little Pluckers could work well with his equipments, so he went for that.

Flickering shoulders and Amara Kells and Hans hated the Alliance Drop, he then got passed Mantle of Master Cho.

After Pack 1

Hans’s initial plan of going for the neutral Shaman didn’t really seem to bear much fruit. He settled early on the green faction, however, he wasn’t rewarded with the gamble, with only few monsters finding his way into his pile. He would now have to decide to try again in the next pack or settling for Alliance instead.

Pack 2

Hans saw Keeper Balos, Overload, Rime and Freezing, McCloud the Fox, The Battle is Won, the War Goes On, Wendy Anne and Flamesinger Zara. Hans went for the Dual Class ability.

50 seconds to decide between another Keeper Balos, Deathbringer Mogdar, The Battle is Won, the War Goes On, Vizo Arctwister, Jadefire Scout and Sulfuras. Hans went for Mogdar.

12 cards came round, among them Zaza’jun, Frost Arc, Poison the Well, Drotara, Bubblesmash, Vor’zun, If You’re Not Against Us… and Aeshia. Frost Arc was added to what could turn into a strong Shaman deck.

Vizo Arctwister managed to somehow stay in the pack and Hans went for it, wondering how it managed to pull off that trick.

Poison the Well, Drotara and another Rogue ability, with Hans picking the ferocious ally.

He then saw Power Generator Hood and a Murloc 1 drop, which he added.

Essence of Rage seemed like an Okish pick and the last card was yet another Rogue ability – we saw a couple of those tabling.

After Pack 2

Hans’s deck was slowly taking shape. At first, he was able to add quite a couple of Monster allies to his pile, however, he then stopped seeing them and had to consider other options more often than not.
It seemed like he was sticking to his original plan at all costs and didn’t feel like either adding some Horde or Alliance allies to his deck unless they were among the very last cards.

Pack 3

Hans saw Jex’ali, The Culmination of Our Efforts, Murloc Coastrunner, Bottled Death, Mark of Goldrinn and Faceless Watcher. He put Naz’jar Sorceress on top of the pile and passed the rest.

He then got Shala’zum, Treespeaker Onaha, Corin Stallnorth, Monstrous Strike and Face of Fear. Shala’zum won that race.

40 seconds to decide between Throwing Starfish, Murloc Coastrunner, Clamps, Glacial Tomb and Hans went for the Rare.

He then got Amano, Herald of the Sun, The Culmination of Our Efforts, Nazuk Darkblood, Throat Slasher and Hans went with Amano.

The next pack featured Monstrous Upheaval, Zizzlix, Brighteye and Anastina and Hans picked the latter.

Faceless Watcher came round together with Blessing of the Old God. With a couple of Empower allies in his pile, he went for the 2 cost equipment.

Earthen Might, another Zizzlix, Letter Opener, The Last Living Lorekeeper and Hans went for another Shaman ability.

Vuza’jin got passed, together with Yana’mi. Hans picked the former.

Bottled Knowledge and yet another Zizzlix, with Hans picking the latter.

Waking the Beast.

Glacial Tomb and the last card, a windmill slammed Waters of Elune.

After Pack 3

Hans’s initial gamble didn’t really pay off, but switching to Horde, even though that happened rather late, seemed to be the right call. With a couple of Empower allies and several ways to trigger their effects, Hans might have enough tricks up his sleeve to sneak into the Top 8.

We’ll check a little later on how he’s been doing and if he’s still got a chance to make it to the final portion of the German Nationals 2012!